Highlands, New Jersey.
Typical home $618,526 (+8.7% in a year), asking rent $2,181 . New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,962 (+153%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $49,518 +9%
- $569,009$618,526 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $167,912 +37%
- $450,614$618,526 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Highlands$3,246
- New Jersey$3,019
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 11 years.
Typical home values in Highlands, NJ rose 8.7% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Highlands is a borough of 4,621 people in Monmouth County. Half its households earn more than $91,913 a year and half less, against $124,845 across Monmouth County; 10% of its people live below the poverty line. 61% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 39% are rented. Unemployment in Monmouth County was 4.2% in August 2026, and the county had 1.8% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then professional services.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Highlands is a small borough in Monmouth County, home to a modest number of people. Households here earn less than the county's typical household, and a noticeable share of residents live below the poverty line. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and many adults hold a four-year degree. Winters are cold, with January the coldest month, and summers are warm, with July the warmest. Rain and melted snow fall steadily through the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in professional and business services, in shops, and in restaurants, hotels and entertainment. Unemployment across Monmouth County has eased over the past year, and the county has added jobs. Among the county's largest workplaces are Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center and Barnabas Health Medical Group. The typical commute is a long one, and a fair number of people work from home.
Things to do. The best-known places nearby are all a longer drive away. Central Park is a garden, and Coney Island is a beach. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is among the museums within reach for a day out.
Report a mistake
- 2,447households
- 52%of adults have a degree
- 10%below the poverty line
- 35 mintypical commute
- 18%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Monmouth County had 279,012 jobs in 2025, 1.8% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 42° and lows near 25°; warmest in July, with highs near 84° and lows near 67°. About 53 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Long Branch-oakhurst weather station, 8 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Monmouth County
- Atrium Payroll ServicesBusiness services - staffing20,000
- Barnabas Health Medical GroupMedical doctors' offices4,575
- Jersey Shore University MED CTRGeneral hospital4,243FTE
- FDM Associates Inc - SFSGeneral stores2,689
- AT&TWired telecommunications carriers1,782
- Monmouth Medical CenterGeneral hospital1,758FTE
- Middletown Township Public School DistrictSchool district1,597FTE
- Centrastate Medical CenterGeneral hospital1,554FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 348 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 78,884 people in all across the county; Highlands has two of its own. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Strong windVery high
- Coastal floodingRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Highlands’ census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Monmouth County and the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metro.
Highlands home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Highlands$618,526
- New Jersey$575,123
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Highlands18
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Highlands9
Zip codes with a Highlands address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Highlands — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.